Corruption of Innocence
by JAG1
Summary: Her life is changing; is it for the better? [Completed]
1. Separation

Chapter 1-Exposure  
  
Birds twittered in the breezy air, air scented by open flowers and tinted slightly green from the thick tree branches over head. Two elves walked through the flowers, neither knowing of the enchantments that protected them or caring that they were precious to the township barely within shouting distance.  
  
The four Havens are places for peace and escape from the bustling city life. Of them, the home to the elves was the oldest and most venerable of them all. It had seen times of war, times of peace, and it was said to be the birthplace of life.  
  
But the heritage was lost on the youth; the past reduced to rumors through the generations. Elders only remembered elders of their youth telling of the wars and dragons, but newer generations had other things on their minds.  
  
Such were the two elves, Christen and Angela, talking wistfully as they walked through the scent of freshly harvested grain, aloof to the person following them. Christen, a tall and stately elvish youth, was born into the upper class. His father, a wealthy merchant, had established him as the heir to a fortune so Christen didn't take his studies seriously. His father was busy and not able to tend to the needs of his son and Christen knew what was coming to him so Christen found little need for his studies.  
  
His companion, they hoped for life, has always been more important to the village but less wealthy. Angela was the daughter of the Seer, and since she did not have her gift yet, she was the last in a line of visionaries that guided the civilization. The Seer granted passage through the territory for strangers and guided their societies with knowledge of the immediate future.  
  
Something was happening now; all of the Seers had been called to the capitol now. Angela didn't know, or care, what her mother did but now the whole family had to move. She had to leave her friends, her village, her house, and most importantly, Christen.  
  
Angela broke the silence, "I don't want to go. The counsel needs the Seers, they can have them but why do they need their families too? I won't do it," Angela cried to the world, "I won't go with my family." Christen gingerly pressed her head to his shoulder with one hand and held her close. Christen ran his hand through the thin strand's of Angela's faded gold hair and closed his eyes. Angela's tear soiled Christen's silk tunic as she wrapped her arms around his waist.  
  
"Christen," A voice broke the atmosphere, "I'm so glad I caught up with you."  
  
Christen didn't let go or turn his head, he knew the voice. "Luareth, Father told you to pack our things for the move. What are you doing here?"  
  
"Yes, I did that," Luareth curtseyed, her bluish-black hair bobbing slightly, "and then your father told me to bring you back for the feast." Her words were followed by a pause. Christen had tried to get rid of her and now, and she knew Christen would ignore her, so she crouched low with her head barely above the leaf crests and dreamed of a better future.  
  
Plants rustled in the silence and Luareth jumped up in alarm. Angela and Christen separated but continued to hold hands. A young woman materialized from the field. None of the elves had heard her approach and the stalks around her were high. Her deep sapphire cloak should have stood out among the golden stalks, but no one had seen her coming. A hood shielded her face from view except for her pale mouth. She took one look at Christen and Angela and laughed, "Sorry to interrupt but do you know where the Elvish Haven is?"  
  
"Yes," Angela replied, "we all live there at the moment. Luareth over there will show you the way."  
  
"But I can't," Luareth objected, "Christen, your father told me to bring you back for the feast."  
  
"I know, Luareth," Christen soothed her panicked voice, "but this field is safe. I'll talk to father when I get back. For now, I order you to take this stranger back to the Haven."  
  
"Master Christen and Angela," the stranger said, almost in reprimand of young love, "you two should know that no place is safe now. We should all go to the Haven; I have business with the haven."  
  
Although protests sprang immediately to the throats of Christen and Angela, both of them felt the objections being smoothed over and suddenly the three elves agreed that they should go back. Christen took the lead, holding Angela's hand, while Luareth walked behind them and the newcomer took up the rear.  
  
After they few minutes of walking, a gong's boom blasted through the forest and shook the forest with its resonating echoes. The feast had begun and the elves broke into a run. The stranger followed them until the outskirts of the Haven were in view. She stopped suddenly and spun around in a whirl of cloak to face behind her, "Are you sure?"  
  
The elves stopped and looked at each other in confusion. They didn't see another person around, but the stranger seemed to. The ground around them was unbroken; no one stood with them. They whispered to each other and figured that the stranger was crazy and decided that Angela's mother would judge the stranger.  
  
The stranger didn't notice their jabber; focused totally on the air; "I guess it's lucky that we came now, huh? Remember, after the feast we get our quarry." The three elves looked at each other but the stranger smiled. Each of the elves felt their caution slip away and the four of them continued to the Haven.  
  
The table was covered with meat and fruit dishes, the steam escaped to the heavens while the smell enticed the village to feast. The table was long, and comfortably seated the village people plus the creatures that came from the surrounding woodland to feast. At the head of the table sat the two most valuable elves of the Haven, the Archmage prevailed over the feast and the Seer approved or turned away guests. Angela sat next to her mother on the end, across from Christen's father and mother. Neither Angela nor Christen knew any elves at this end of the table; all of their friends were at the other end of the table, but Christen and Angela were important to the village, so they had no choice.  
  
The stranger walked into the clearing and bowed to the Seer and the Archmage. The Seer started to speak but instead she got a strange look in her eyes. When she did speak, her voice was devoid of feeling, "Come, join us, stranger." The stranger bowed again and took her place at the foot of the table. Some of the warriors shifted or tightened their grips on their weapons but the whole village relaxed deeply. In the daze, the table was silent and the Archmage shifted uncomfortably. When the Archmage reminded the village that the feast had begun, the call to food was answered with a clatter of dishes and requests for dishes.  
  
Two helpings later, another stranger, in a red cloak and distinctly human, stepped into the clearing, "Hear your master and obey, peaceful weaklings." The elves continued to eat, oblivious to the threat.  
  
"Pathetic and mindless, " The human in the red cloak scoffed, "I thought the elves were a careful race. This will be easier than I anticipated."  
  
The stranger in the blue cloak stood up and stepped away from the table. She began walking around the table, "Namil, imagine seeing you here."  
  
The red mage stepped back, her face quivering with fear, "Nessi, what are you doing here? Are you looking for her to?"  
  
"I was just sitting down to a meal, when you came," Nessi replied harshly, "leave now and I won't kill you."  
  
Namil smiled, "I doubt you'll let me leave." She pointed at Nessi with her pointer and middle finger and thick strands of lightning surged toward Nessi. Nessi waved her hand and the lightning fizzled. Nessi partially dropped her hold on the elves to free up her magic.  
  
The elves awoke from their trance, enraged that they were duped and indignant that their home was impeded on. Seeing Namil as the enemy, every warrior leapt at Namil, archers unleashed their arrows and bolt. Namil waved her hand and the ground in front of her erupted into flame. Arrows streamed through the blazing shield, disintegrating into streams of smoke. With another wave of the mage's hand, the swords melted and the elves were beaten.  
  
Blue energy enveloped Nessi and the shield formed into a large gelatinous puddle, which plopped to the ground several feet from Nessi's feet and began sliming toward Namil.  
  
Namil took initiative. Red energy flared from her pores and she pushed the energy towards the blob. The slung energy condensed as it accelerated into a solid bolt of lava. The bolt fizzled upon contact, and the blob was still coming. Namil summoned a large goblin armed with a large hammer. The goblin slammed its hammer into the blob but the blob shrunk away from the blow and formed a hole in front of the head until the hammer struck the ground.  
  
The blob welled up and consumed the goblin in its blue gel. The elves saw the goblin decompose through the blue film as the gel absorbed its energy. The goblin and the blob melted to the ground but then the goblin reformed with its greenish skin replaced with blue.  
  
Namil panicked and lobed a bolt of lightning at the doppleganged goblin. A hole formed in the center of the goblin, allowing the bolt to pass through at Nessi. Nessi stepped back, rotating both her elbows in front of her and a mirror appeared in front of her. The lightning rebounded back, through another formed hole in the goblin, into Namil. It was all she could do to point at the bolt, summoning another goblin in front of her. The bolt cleansed the forest of the monster, but nothing would cleanse the air of its scream.  
  
Undaunted, Namil flared again and her energy slid to her outstretched hands. From each hand, bolts of raw energy pounded the ground and a creature began to form. It was distinctly a cat, but lapping flames replaced fur and flesh as it bounded to consume Nessi. Nessi pointed to the blob, now formed into a goblin, she had created and a beam of light connected it with the Firecat.  
  
The cat exploded into a puddle that became a turtle. At the same time, the puddle had turned into the Firecat, on the attack with a new target. Nessi motioned to the turtle, which disappeared. The elves only heard a scream and saw the Firecat washed through Namil. Her charred remains were carried away in the wind. 


	2. Beginning

Chapter 2-Separation  
  
Nessi stood still for a second with her back to the elves, allowing for her abilities and her latest feat to sink into the minds of the elves of the forest. Then she turned to walk toward the table. A smile slid onto her face as she felt their blank faces and fear-tainted minds.  
  
Nessi put her hands on the table, "I'm looking for one, one that tips the balance of good and evil, one that resides here."  
  
"What do want with this one?" The Archmage looked harshly at Nessi, "know that I won't let anything happen to any on my subjects."  
  
"Oh, you have your pathetic vows and I have mine," Nessi replied as the Archmage's eyes blazed. Nessi continued, "I'll take the one I seek and you won't stop me; you won't endanger the lives of all of these elves in the wood. I have no such restrictions so I win."  
  
The Archmage stood up brimming with rage, the spike of her magic sent her throne flying. Green energy buzzed around her and discharged in an icy gale. Nessi was caught in the gale and flew backwards until her outline glowed blue and she stabilized in the air. The Archmage spoke up, "I've dealt with you before. You never got the one before and you're not getting her this time."  
  
The Archmage's magic flared again and she pointed to the ground. Vines sprouted quickly and flew at Nessi. With every second, each of the vines doubled in diameter and length. Nessi also flared and a thin bubble surrounded her an instant before the vines enveloped her.  
  
The vines formed a sphere around her. While the vines held and began to fade, the Archmage's magic flared again. The vines unwrapped as a thick beam of green energy engulfed Nessi. The beam engulfed her and the bubble protecting Nessi popped out of existence but the green energy bridge remained. Nessi dropped to the ground, her magic bound and resources destroyed.  
  
Suddenly, the spectators felt the presence of another. The elves of the forest recoiled, as though struck, and fell. Luareth, not effected as the others were, looked around at the elves huddled within themselves and she felt the evil and decay building.  
  
Nessi grimaced contently as the bridge disappeared. She stood weakly and said to the air, "You took long enough. I was thinking I would have to do it myself, then again, I would get all the glory and the reward for myself." She stood up straight, her power returning and her bad mood refurbished, "Well, what are you waiting for? Reveal yourself and let's get this done."  
  
Above her, the air wavered and a simple rotting cloak appeared. It seemed a normal cloak except that it rustled and snapped, as if in a great breeze, despite the still afternoon air. Despite the wind's influence, it didn't move, hovering in the air and it took a moment for the assembly to realize it's alive.  
  
"Listen carefully, Archmage, because this will rock your world," Nessi smiled thinly, "This is my new friend. History will know him as the Nightwere." Nessi pointed to a spilled basket of fruit. One of the juiciest pieces shuttered and rose. Nessi reached for it and the fruit flew to your hand. Instead of catching it, Nessi motioned the fruit over her shoulder and the fruit slammed into the Nightwere. The Nightwere slid backwards through the air effortlessly from the impact. The fruit withered and rotted in the air and shattered as it hit the ground.  
  
Nessi let that saturate among the Elves and the Archdruid for a while before speaking, "That was just one touch; do you still want to fight still want to fight?"  
  
The Archdruid looked sadly at Luareth, and shook her head mournfully. Nessi flashed out. Cries came from the elves around Luareth as Nessi appeared behind her. Nessi put her hand on Luareth's shoulder and sighed for a second, "I wish I were still that weak." Luareth felt her skin bubbling and cracking, her skin turning inside out, but when she realized she felt it the feeling was gone. She stood next to Nessi and the Nightwere.  
  
The Archmage stammered and cried out, "She's safe here. She belongs here."  
  
"She's not safe anywhere," Nessi replied coldly. "Every mage will be after her power and I can't let them have it."  
  
"Take her to the Counsel, she'll be safe there. No one dares attack the Counsel. . ."  
  
"I have my own designs for her," Nessi shot back, "and the counsel knows of Luareth, why aren't they here too? They can't stop anything. I should know. Say good-bye, child."  
  
Luareth closed her eyes as she heard cries erupt, severed suddenly, and then she felt disoriented and the bubbling and cracking began again. Luareth opened her eyes to a blue whirlpool of light below her and she fell into it. Alone. She opened her mouth, but solid energy oozed into her mouth. Her muscles felt like her skin had melted away.  
  
Then it stopped. Luareth fell to the ground, sprawled on the sharp grass, and she paused for a moment, making sure this was real. Her arms and legs ached as she stood up.  
  
Nessi motioned to a dancing light in the distance, "Go to it. Others wait for you there." Luareth felt physically drained, like she hadn't slept in days. It took Luareth a while to realize that it was a fire, a flickering yellow and orange geyser with roasting meat above it. Somehow she found a log to sit on and roasted meat was put into her hands. After eating the meat, she collapsed backwards onto the sand and fell asleep immediately.  
  
Luareth strolled a forest path of her youth, feeling pleasure and relaxation from the rich green puddles of light that studded the earthen path. Birds and animals twittered and she knew it was for her. Her vision and senses flowed throughout the forest, and she was a part of the forest. No, the forest was a part of her, she had mastered the forest and the forest saturated her soul with life.  
  
A brown dog leapt onto her shoulders and she smiled. This animal was unlike any other, Luareth knew that and she felt the connection. As she continued walking, she came to a clearing. In the short grass, rabbits and birds stopped jumping and lions lay before her. All of their senses on her, enveloping and strengthening her, and she knew they were hers to command.  
  
A red figure stepped into the clearing. Luareth had felt it was there but still she was surprised. The red figure materialized into a young man, about her age, but taller and furious. Its mouth moved but a voice reverberated around the forest, "This is the power you will get, but I can't let that happen."  
  
Luareth quivered slightly as the figure raised its arm to point at her, "you know too much, I can't let you live." Luareth trembled again, a might tremor that started in her legs and vibrated up as orange flame gathered and condensed on the stranger's fingers. Luareth shrieked and bolted as flame dispersed and bathed the forest.  
  
She scampered across the dirt until she could make a standing rush into a different path then she had come. Along side her, animals and flame raced and danced. Beside her, a wolf easily matched her pace. With a gruff and breathy grunt, the wolf spoke "Why won't you help us? You should protect us."  
  
"I can't," Luareth squawked, "I don't know what I'm doing here."  
  
--Then you are a traitor and you don't deserve to rule-- The wolf leapt into Luareth's thigh, sending Luareth sprawling to the ground. Luareth could only weep as she felt claws and flames graze her back. Luareth writhed in her sleep for a moment and went into a black sleep. She wouldn't remember anything.. 


	3. Passage

Chapter 3-Impressions  
  
Luareth awoke with a start. She pushed herself up but her hands couldn't get a firm hold in the sand. Sand? Luareth knew she had landed on grass after teleporting here, where did the sand come from? She looked down at the sand as the events of last night rolled through her head.  
  
Subtly at first, the sand began to run together. Luareth felt her hands slip, not across the sand, but into it. The sand grew transparent and reflective yet it supported Luareth's weight. The current began to hasten until what used to be sand gurgled around Luareth's wrists and knees. And then the bottom was gone, Luareth shrieked despite herself as she plummeted into the newly formed lake. The water was cold, its frigid grasp squeezing the breath out of her. And then it was sand, then grass, the same Luareth had felt when she first landed. She stood, her clothes soaked and icy, and movement caught her eye.  
  
They looked about her age; three youths wore monochromatic cloaks, wrapped around them like skin, and annoyed expressions.  
  
The first was a boy, full build and grayish white hair that dribbled out of the neck of the cloak, shrouded in a metallic silver cloak that reflected the light sharply. His hands orbited around a clump of metal suspended in front of him.  
  
A soft but annoyed voice floated on the air, "I hope you have a good reason for that, I need more beauty sleep." Luareth looked at the speaker, the third youth, and her breath left her. She was beautiful, a thin maiden in a white cloak and soft brown hair.  
  
Another in a dark red cloak, thin but muscular with short red hair that blended with the cloak, shouted to Nessi, "What was that for? I was in the middle of a dream."  
  
Nessi walked into the clearing, her sapphire cloak billowing behind her and ebony blue tunic clad to her, "We have a guest and I thought you should meet her."  
  
The same voice tickled the air, "What's the big deal about her? She doesn't have any magic and she doesn't look like a fighter."  
  
"Elah, be patient and wait for events to play out," Nessi scolded. She continued, with a hint of sadness, "Not even I can see everything. However, become good friends, she's the one of legend."  
  
"Wow, so you're the one?" Elah leaned closer to Luareth, "I'm Elah, the group's medic."  
  
Luareth was about to ask before Nessi shouted, "Elah and Tingit, you're first up. Please try not to kill each other. Then Luareth, show Demn what you can do." Luareth and Demn sat down on a hill to watch the training and wait. They were within hearing range of Tingit and Elah, and Luareth hoped they wouldn't be affected by the spells.  
  
Tingit, the young man in the red cloak, glared at Elah and grinned, "I've wanted to do this for a long time."  
  
Elah sighed, "Keep waiting, you're going to lose." White energy flowed from her into a single arc and shaped itself into a human form. The creation wore a darkened smock and wielded a hammer with a thick iron head. Tingit pointed to the summoned creature and jets of flame shot from his fingers. Cries of pain echoes on the air as Elah glowed white again.  
  
Points of white formed in the air and each one began to move precisely in the air, outline a grid in the air. Tingit could only watch as blocks of marble formed from the grid and formed a high wall and four similar walls formed around Elah. From inside the fortress, a bright glow lit up the sky as Elah rose to the ramparts of the castle. Elah summoned human archers for the castle, who rained down arrows when Tingit sent a team of deformed and rambunctious green goblins to destroy it.  
  
Luareth turned her attentions to Demn. He sat on the hillside, impossibly quiet, staring at the hunk of metal suspended between his hands. Suddenly the hunk of metal began to flatten and square up.  
  
The freshly formed tablet floated in front of Luareth and she slowly reached out to touch it. As she watched, engraved letters appeared on the tablet "You do know why you're here, don't you?"  
  
"Actually, I have no idea," Luareth responded, relieved that maybe something would make sense now.  
  
The words appeared on the tablet hardly faster that Luareth could comprehend them but much faster that she could believe them. 'You will be able to absorb and steal powers from others. This will make you both a coveted ally and a malevolent foe at the same time.'  
  
An explosion rocked the ground and Luareth looked down at the duel. The battle for Elah's magical castle had begun with several Firebeasts slamming into the gate and now hordes of Orcs, Goblins, and a few small dragons charged toward the wall in a massive campaign. Rains of arrows, bolts, and oil cut away the ranks of the attacking creatures. Luareth knew she would never forget that scene of death, bodies strewn around the field, many still twitching as others trampled over them to meet the same fate.  
  
Luareth stood and gasped, suppressing a scream but her feet didn't move. Tingit laughed; "Look at her. The savior of the world can't even stand death. I don't think she's ever seen it before."  
  
Light exploded from inside the castle and the center of light appeared to be Elah as she rose out of the castle borne on freshly created wings. In her hands, white lightning crackled, and each flap of her wings stirred the divinity of the world. Her cloak was gone, replaced by thick steel armor.  
  
Movement caught her eye, snapped her attention away from the battle below. Nessi was there, sitting down above Demn on the hill. Luareth spoke out to her, "Why have you brought me here?"  
  
"All things in time. Demn, I have a job for you. Fly to the Elf Haven and see if you can get them to move. They won't, but we can say we tried. Leave at nightfall and if I'm not there, god help them. I've got some people to see and then I'll be there. You two, stop this foolishness, we've got somewhere to go." Demn nodded. The plate of metal Luareth had forgotten that she still held, wriggled itself out of her grasp and hovered in front of them. It began unfolding, shaping and warping.  
  
Luareth felt a hand on her shoulder. It was cold and inhuman and it tore her around until she could only see Nessi's face, "You and I have some errands to do before we go to the capitol. Behave yourself and you'll survive. You're a wanted person, the one person that can save or destroy this forsaken place."  
  
Tingit and Elah stepped up behind Luareth and a blue mist began to envelop them. Luareth stole one last look at Demn, soaring away on top of a giant bird to warn the elves about who knows what. Nessi knows what, Luareth thought bitterly, and she won't save them. Luareth felt the heat of anger wash through her and then the ice of Nessi's teleportation spell.  
  
The four of them now stood in the middle of the desert. Tingit grinned as the four of them began walking, "I love it when new people come here. I love to hear them scream."  
  
"Amateur," Nessi whispered, "You've got a lot to learn." Luareth was about to say something when the ground fell away. Luareth felt the sand well up her cloak, filling her mouth. Luareth coughed out the sand, but filled her lungs immediately.  
  
Then it was gone. They were now in a tunnel, completely hollow circular. This tunnel could only have been the work of some gigantic beast. Tingit shook his head, "I can't believe she didn't scream. Elah screamed her first time. Ouch." The dirt beneath Tingit's feet turned to caltrops, twisted metal barbs that dug through the soles of Tingit's boots. Luareth looked at Elah, who grinned. For the first time since Luareth had met Nessi or any of the others, she felt good.  
  
"Tingit, be more careful who you anger," Nessi scolded as she hovered over the spikes, "No one is powerless and you aren't all powerful. Stay here, you three, I'll find the person we're here to see. Tingit, no fighting with Elah." Nessi projected the tone of a tired mother, and Luareth could see why. Tingit teased Elah like so many older brothers did to their sisters in the Haven.  
  
The Haven. A flood of memories of her youth, the good, the bad, and the mischievous, and then what Nessi had told Demn. She cried out to Nessi, but she was gone. Luareth knew too well that Nessi had used some type of spell, probably similar to the one that had brought then here, but it was unnerving anyway.  
  
Tingit sat down and picked the metal barbs out of his boots, muttering to himself. Elah pulled Luareth away from him and spoke in a whisper, "I want you to be really careful with these people."  
  
Luareth was not surprised, "The Archmage of our village called me the One when she was fighting with Nessi. Do you know what that means?"  
  
Elah looked into the darkness, "I don't know exactly, but you will become more powerful then anyone. And when the time comes, destroy Nessi and that Nightwere monstrosity. During the Great Wars, each one has killed and destroyed thousands of lives. Together they have done the unthinkable," Elah pulled away, "No one deserves to die, not like that. There is always another way." Elah returned slowly and sat down across from Tingit, bowing her head to sob.  
  
Luareth watched with wide eyes. Tingit laughed, "She's still bitter about her family. We've all lost something. The thing that makes each of us unique is how we embrace power. You have your own choice to make; you can let your power corrupt you or you can entrust your life to those it has corrupted."  
  
Luareth turned away from Elah to look at Tingit squarely; "There must be an better way; a way to master power without being consumed by it."  
  
Tingit smiled bittersweetly, as if he found something ironic, and turned away, "Some of us need to lose more before we see the truth." 


	4. Empowerment

Chapter 4-Empowerment  
  
Luareth gapped at Tingit's uncaring explanation when another more sinister and less compassionate voice interrupted them. "Imagine my luck," the voice echoed through the tunnel and sent shivers up and down Luareth's voice, "I find the one right here, protected by two weaklings. Surrender her now, and I might let you live."  
  
Tingit laughed, "Show yourself, you coward, and burn in my fire."  
  
"Brave words coming from an infant," a booted foot stepped into the clearing. As the rest of the body came into view, Luareth caught her breath. This new person's outfit was identical to Nessi's, except this person's outfit was blood red.  
  
"I know you," Tingit gasped, "you're the Embermage."  
  
"Give this man a prize," the figure hissed, "now give me mine."  
  
Elah stood up, "Leave us alone. Nessi is around here somewhere and if you harm us you'll have to answer to her."  
  
"Perhaps," the figure concluded, "but she's not here now. Give the One to me or feel my wrath."  
  
Another one of Tingit's Firebeasts answered the question nicely. The Embermage pointed to it and the air cracked as lightning engulfed the beast. A small hydra appeared, a dragon on most accounts, it made up for not being able to fly with its many heads that writhed in fury. The Embermage pointed to the ground below the hydra. The ground cracked and split, sending the hydra falling out of sight. Suddenly the fissure erupted with light and as the light dimmed, the hydra rose again. It was now bigger, nearly filling up the space, and had two pumping golden feathered wings. The fissure disappeared.  
  
Tingit smiled at Elah, "We make a good team, you and I." Elah just shook her head. A flash brought their attention back to the hydra, now a vapor trail, and the Embermage's smoking hands. He showed some exertion, panting lightly through his smile.  
  
A new energy surged within Luareth; hate mixed with disgust encompassed with a burning wrath. She was tired; tired of being fought over, tired of being helpless, but now felt certain that none of that would happen any more. She threw her hands upwards and green light flooded the passage. When the light subsided, Luareth smiled at the Embermage, who stepped back uncertainly.  
  
Tingit and Elah glanced at each other, but their amazement was cut short by a rumbling from the darkness of the tunnel. Behind the three youths, a large green lizard, its head alone the size of a man's torso, charged forward. Its face structure was that of a chimpanzee but twisted with reptilian rage. Its teeth gnashed as it charged forward.  
  
The Embermage laughed silently at the sheer incompetence of the upstarts as the air popped and a surge of lightning engulfed the lizard. The Embermage's grin melted away as the attack bounced off the thick hide and fizzled into the tunnel's walls. He launched a torrent of flame and lightning attacks, all of which rebounded harmlessly into the dirt walls of the tunnel. Sapping his own strength, the Embermage summoned the fissure again. To his relief, the lizard sunk into the abyss.  
  
As he sighed and fell to one knee, the ground below him exploded. The shower of dirt and blood subsided within moments, leaving no trace of the attacking creature or the Embermage. A red sprite flittered through the air. It bumbled through the air to look into Tingit's eyes. After a moment, it erratically spun to Elah, who tried to crawl away from it. Not satisfied, the sprite flew straight into Luareth's stomach.  
  
Luareth stood for a moment, gasping for air against the burning sensation that saturated her soul. Then the burning was gone, and Luareth felt alive like she had never felt before. Her senses expanded, her breathing was easier, and her mind was focused; it was like she had woken up, awakened more somehow.  
  
"Well, I couldn't find him," Nessi came up and stood where the Embermage had stood, "Oh, I guess he found you first."  
  
Tingit was strangely cool, given Elah's terrified mindset, "That's Luareth's fault, she got the ability to summon creatures and then that fire thing. . . "  
  
"Then it has begun," Nessi said, as if that would mean something to the rest of them, "We must find the fifth so a decision can be made."  
  
"No," Luareth stepped backward against the tunnel wall and looked straight into Nessi's eyes, "I'm tired of being dragged around. Tell me what is going on."  
  
"I sense now that you have power, so you can make a hefty threat," Nessi replied methodically, "but you lack the will to back up that threat. You're becoming hard to transport so you should know why this is happening. You are the one of this generation who can steal powers. By killing you, a mage takes your power, as you took the Embermage's, and stops you from taking away their power in the first place. Gather round, we have one more stop we must make."  
  
"How do I know I can trust you?" Luareth asked with a sizable edge in her voice, "Why aren't you trying to kill me like the rest of them?"  
  
"You don't," Nessi hissed, "but you have no other way out of here. Your creatures can't dig you out of here and you have to stick around to find out why I'm not trying to kill you, but maybe I am. You don't know."  
  
Luareth sighed. Nessi was right, she didn't know. Her newfound power was not a quick solution. She had to submit to Nessi's power again. Nessi worked another spell to teleport the three of them to another place, Luareth knew, but she didn't know where. As she felt the energy surround her, she fell into a fevered dream.  
  
Luareth strolled a forest path of her youth, stress oozed out of her pores and she could feel the tension melting away. She waded through rich green puddles of light that studded the earthen path. Birds and animals chattered, Luareth knew that it was congratulations for her. Her vision and senses flowed throughout the forest and throughout the animals of the forest. She was a part of the forest. No, the forest was a part of her. She governed the creatures, as savior and server, and plants of the forest. In return, the forest saturated her soul with life.  
  
A gray wolf leapt by her side and she smiled. This animal was unlike any other, Luareth knew that and she felt the connection of power between the wolf and the forest. As she continued walking, she came to a clearing. In the short grass, rabbits and birds stopped jumping and paused to identify her. All of their senses on her, and a strange power welled up in her and they hurriedly scampered away.  
  
A red figure stepped out the clearing. Luareth had felt he was there, knew the corruption was there but still she was surprised. The red figure materialized into an ancient skeleton, ghostly white yet animated. Its jaw quivered and a voice reverberated around the forest, "See the power you have gained and the power you will lose."  
  
Luareth quivered with fury at the insult to the living. Anger welled up within her and she grasped it, "You have made a mockery of life for too long." Luareth listed, a might tremor that started in her legs and vibrated up as orange flame gathering and condensing in her own hands. Luareth shrieked with fury as the flame dispersed and bathed the forest.  
  
The figure disappeared and she raced after it. She rushed headlong a path she had never seen before, knowing that the black figure was around the next curve. In her wake and along side her, animals, danced with flame, withered and writhed. Suddenly the wolf was by her side, "Why did you bring this on us? You should protect us."  
  
"Show me how," Luareth pleaded, "I don't know how to control this."  
  
"Then you are the enemy and you must fall." The wolf's teeth lodged into Luareth's thigh, sending Luareth sprawling to the ground. Luareth could only weep as she felt claws and flames graze her back.  
  
Luareth writhed in her sleep for a moment and went into a black sleep. She remembered a flame and forest, a wolf and danger. 


	5. Alone

Chapter 5-Alone  
  
Luareth woke from her dream, disoriented from Nessi's spell that landed them here, in front of a golden plain and a marble city. Tingit, Elah, and Luareth stepped forward, into the grain and onward to the city. Nessi sat down in the grain; "You go ahead. It will be better if I stay here, much better."  
  
Tingit laughed, "So, Nessi is afraid to go here. I like it already."  
  
Nessi swept her hand across her body, sending Tingit sprawling in the grain, "I will come when the time is right. You need to learn that too, that's why you're with me in the first place."  
  
Elah laughed slightly as she continued walking. Luareth caught up with her, glad to get away from Nessi but also glad to get a chance to ask Elah some questions, "Elah, why are you and Tingit with Nessi anyway?"  
  
Elah stopped, looked over her shoulder at Luareth, looked pointedly at Nessi, and continued walking. Luareth understood and followed. Tingit lagged behind the two of them. Once they were almost inside the city limits, Elah stopped Luareth, "Nessi is a very powerful mage and she's older than any one can remember. We were chosen by her to learn what we could. I don't understand that entirely, because I specialize in healing, Tingit in flame, but Nessi specializes in everything unseen." Elah paused to let Tingit catch up with them.  
  
Elah continued, "The cloaks we wear represent our order; Tingit has the red cloak of Firestarters, I have the white cloak of all Healers, Nessi has the blue one of Psychics, and you have the green cloak of Lifebearers. The head of each order is given a title. The head of the Firestarters is called the Embermage; he was the guy you beat and so now you're it, I guess. And you must be the Archmage too, the head of the Lifebearers since you inherited her powers, which gave you the magic to beat the Embermage in the first place. Does that make sense?"  
  
"No," Luareth shook her head, "no it doesn't."  
  
"Live with it," Tingit interjected, "it won't make that much more sense if you understood it anyway, so at least pretend you do." Luareth looked at Tingit over her should, more confused than before.  
  
A huge shadow swooped over them and the wind picked up. The shadow slowly shrank and the winds increased. Luareth was forced to hide her face. When the wind had stopped and Luareth looked again, Demn jumped off the back of a large metallic bird. The bird began to fold up again, collapse in on itself and shrink. Soon the bird had turned into a shapeless chunk of metal. It was the same as when Luareth first met Demn.  
  
"There goes our subtlety," Tingit huffed as he feigned disappointment, "Nice one, Demn." Demn shrugged apologetically and pointed. Thousands of soldiers were pouring out of the castle.  
  
Elah was the first to see it and she gasped, "It's a army." Tingit stepped forward, hands blazing and a murderous grin on his face. Elah put a hand on his shoulder, "I don't think they want to harm us. Let's wait to see what they want."  
  
Demn's hand spun and his chunk of metal expanded around the four of them. Soon the metal shielded all of them all around. Luareth felt metal under her feet suddenly and the ground around them seem to fall away. The four of them were now on a tower, created by Demn, enriched by Elah, and defended by Tingit.  
  
Movement caught Tingit's eyes and he spun and threw energy. The target was an angel with white cloak, again in the same style as Nessi's but white instead of blue, and the energy took the form of a fireball. The angel waved it off with her scepter.  
  
A piece of the tower broke off and Demn's magic worked it into a tube. Pulling it quickly to rest on his shoulder, the front and back exploded with energy, the back with a plume and the front with a beam that engulfed and blasted the angel out of the sky. With a furious cry, the angel fell to the ground.  
  
Tingit closed his eyes to concentrated as Elah shouted to the grounded angel, "What do you want with us?"  
  
"You bring evil and you must be stopped," the angel grunted. Elah saw her wounds, the effort of negating Tingit's attack and the damage of being hit by Demn's blasting cannon had taken its toll. Elah threw her arms out front and shimmering wings began to grow from her back. Tingit's concentration was broken as he and Demn shuffled to avoid being knocked off the tower by the expanding wings.  
  
Elah took a deep breath and leapt off the tower. She cut an elegant arc, swooping down to help the wounded angel. As she landed gently by the angel, Tingit and Demn both clapped lightly. Elah's return look was mixed joy and annoyance but she tried to help the angel.  
  
The angel spun away from her and suddenly Elah realized that the angel was the Evernmage, the greatest magic user of life and Elah's childhood idol. Elah gasped, but the Evernmage just looked condescendingly at her, "You're not like them, why are you with them?"  
  
"Because she's my student," Nessi said, having just appeared behind the angel. The Evernmage spun and the ground at her feat pounced at Nessi. Bits of ground fell away until the ground spout took the shape of a pouncing lion. The lion hit a shield around Nessi and shattered into dirt.  
  
"Still throwing dirt clods, are we?" Nessi muttered as she looked at the tower and up to Demn, Tingit, and Luareth. She looked up and down the tower for a second, "Demn, this one is a lot better than the last one. Well done, but come down." Demn smiled with unvoiced elation and the tower began to unwind itself. The platform they stood on sank. Soon the tower was gone and Demn still held the molding hunk of metal in his hands.  
  
The Evernmage stood up and Luareth felt eyes drilling into her soul. The Evernmage spoke sharply at Nessi, "You got the One. How?"  
  
Nessi shrugged, "it wasn't that hard. The Archmage had grown weak with age."  
  
The Evernmage shifted slightly, "Why?"  
  
Nessi smiled a deep, inward, and malicious smile, "You'll just have to wait and find out, now won't you? Four of the five parts are assembled, we just need the Nightwere. I'll bring him." Nessi raised her arms and closed her eyes  
  
The Evernmage caught her shoulder and spoke in panic, "But where is the Embermage? Doesn't he have to be here too. Summon him first."  
  
Nessi ignored her and continued concentrating.  
  
Elah soothingly pried the Evernmage's hands off of Nessi's sleeve. "We tried to bring him but he attacked us," Elah answered, "Luareth beat him." The Evernmage shrunk down hopelessly. Luareth saw the wrath of an apocalypse in the Evernmage's eyes, a look that betrayed her prophecy of the end of the world, and felt responsible. A though came to her and she turned to Demn, "What happened to the Elves?"  
  
The hunk of metal in Demn's hands drifted out of his hands and hovered as the tablet again. 'They are dead, all dead. They wouldn't listen and I didn't get there in time to force them.' Luareth choked slightly. Elah hugged Luareth consolingly.  
  
Tingit stepped closer to the tablet, "How did they die?" 'Fate.' "Who killed them?" 'Fate.' Luareth broke into fresh sobs with each answer and Elah silenced Tingit questions.  
  
"Luareth." Luareth recognized the voice and tried to remember where she had heard it before as she scanned the ramparts of the castle. Through the ring of guards, Luareth noticed two elves running out of the castle. As they shouldered through the guards, Luareth could see that they were Christen and Angela. She stared at the approaching ghosts, what must be shadows of the dead. She was silent as the two apparitions hesitated in front of her.  
  
Angela spoke, "Luareth, what's wrong? My family was called here, remember? Why are you looking at us like that?"  
  
"Because you're dead. The Haven was destroyed and all the elves within it . . ." Luareth broke under the weight of the realization, she fell to her knees and sobbed. Angela and Christen were by her side immediately, neither sure what Luareth was talking about but they could see she was upset. Luareth felt their solid hands and immediately returned their embrace, too happy and relieved to question the truth.  
  
The air split, releasing and redoubling the tension with a ground-shaking boom. The Nightwere was there in his gruesome glory and Nessi smiled. The rotting cloth wavered in the winds of time, last remnants of all that rotted away.  
  
Christen and Angela crumpled to the ground, writhing in painless agony. Elah fell to her knees and gasped for breath. Luareth stopped her sobs, stood up and looked at Elah. Something about the Nightwere affected Elah and Elfin kind, and even the Evernmage, with all her power, reacted to his presence. With the realization, a nagging pain tugged at herown consciousness but she ignored it.  
  
Nessi addressed the soldiers surrounding them, "Go back into the city, everything is fine here." The soldiers loaded the ballista and strung their arrows but none left. Nessi tried again, "Go back inside the castle." Infinitely loyal to the Evernmage, whom they believed was in danger, the soldiers and launched the bolt.  
  
Nessi again threw her hands up and the soldiers, all of them and their gear, vanished in puffs of smoke. Transported into the castle, the soldiers hurriedly began opening the gates to help the Evernmage. Nessi spun around, her eyes flashed, and the gates slammed shut. The sealing spell trapped the soldiers within the castle walls.  
  
The ground rumbled and the air shook. In the distance, a strange shadow spilled over the ground, definitely moving toward the castle. Nessi turned slowly to Luareth, "Its time to embrace your destiny, Luareth, to make your choice." Tingit stepped hurriedly away from Luareth.  
  
Time stopped as the tension mounted and Luareth braced herself for the worst until a new sound brought the air to life again. It was the coarse sound of the timed steps of thousands of feet, but not the sharp sound that echoes when soldiers marched but a dull series of thuds that lilted heavily. Luareth looked to see a slow moving form ooze out of the forest and toward the city. 


	6. Choice

Chapter 6-Choice  
  
"Your destiny will have to wait until we can secure your future," Nessi replied quickly, "The shadow coming toward us is an army coming to overthrow the capitol. We can leave now and no one will blame us. However, if we stay, we may have to fight for our lives."  
  
Luareth looked at her friends on the ground and noticed the soldiers trapped in the castle, and thought of the Havenites. She then looked at the shadow and she could seem them; millions of legions in black armor. She took a deep breath; "can we win?"  
  
Nessi stopped Tingit from speaking and answered for herself, "That is for you to answer. If we run, we won't know and if we stay then time will tell."  
  
A surge of energy reminded her of her past weakness. Then she had to run but now she could defend herself and the city. She felt logic sweep aside, "Let's fight."  
  
Nessi was happy, "Oh my, it has been along time. The rest of you go into the castle, you'll be safe there . . . relatively."  
  
Tingit objected, "No, I want to fight with you. If she can handle it, I can."  
  
"No, you can't," Nessi confirmed herself as she swept her hand through the air. Suddenly Nessi and Luareth were alone on the field.  
  
Luareth looked at Nessi, "Why didn't you send me back too?"  
  
"Do you want to be inside the castle?" Nessi whispered back, a hint of malice in her voice. Luareth shook her head, although Nessi was looking away and couldn't have seen it, she continued, "I want you to see this first hand."  
  
Luareth stepped forward but Nessi pulled her back, "Look and listen until you feel and know your opponent." Luareth could see the foot soldiers more clearly now, they were not like the lively soldiers of the city, they were creatures of disease and death; animated mockeries of life. The horde moved with a monotonous grace of decaying flesh, bone, and unearthly groans.  
  
The Nightwere slid forward as Nessi explained to Luareth what was happening, "This is not a mortal army; behind them, or even in the midst of this undead horde, is a magic user. This is a challenge and the Nightwere has excepted. Let evil destroy evil. Good cannot, and the Haven was proof of that." Luareth didn't ask the question, she didn't want Nessi to repeat it and she knew Nessi wouldn't answer her anyway.  
  
Black vines burst from the decaying cloak and oozed across the battlefield. The charging undead tripped and fell, shriveling to the ground as the Nightwere sucked them dry of their animation magic. A skeleton formed beneath the cloak, as if the Nightwere were stealing their false vitality to rejuvenate himself.  
  
For each one that died, two more zombies replaced its ranks, allowing the army to quickly surround the walled city. Luareth prepared herself to fight the monsters herself, seeing that the Nightwere could not possibly summon the forces to battle the undead by himself. However, as the Nightwere's vines drank the zombies dry, it also built up his own strength.  
  
A shock wave vibrated out from the Nightwere and Luareth's idea, her efforts to prepare, where immediately forgotten. Although her own summoning magic was blocked, she gladly noticed that the zombie warriors couldn't restock their forces. She also noticed that the Nightwere was becoming more human with every zombie that fell.  
  
Green ripples emanated from the Nightwere, waves that sliced the hordes of trudging undead. Nessi summoned a shield against the waves, a thin blue membrane that flashed when the waves struck, and protected the castle as well as herself. Luareth was amazed at the Nightwere's potency; almost a third of the approaching horde lay festering on the field while their companions marched over them. And the Nightwere was human again.  
  
Luareth stared for a moment, astonished at the rapid restoration and how normal he looked now. Her heart fell as she realized that the Nightwere was a child. Luareth felt cold as she tried to imagine what rotting away must feel like. And yet the child had not died or aged, just decayed.  
  
The child began to radiate black energy and he rose into the air as though dragged upwards by his shoulders. Luareth heard Nessi mumble to herself as she began to glimmer within her blue energy. Luareth panicked; something big was about to happen and she couldn't do anything. She froze when she felt a voice vibrating her bones. Her head moved slowly with fear as she looked to the source, to the boy.  
  
"LET THERE BE DEATH." The words trembled in her heart as the ground itself rolled. The ripples of the earth expanded and shrank, rising to towering tsunamis and crashing to swallow mouthfuls of fetid prey. Nessi reinforced her shields and her face contorted each time a ripple struck the shields. Luareth felt like a rat trapped in a sinking cage, helpless and knowing that she was doomed. The onslaught was too much for Nessi; she crashed down to the ground as a wave rose to swallow them.  
  
The jaws fell in a shower of dirt, covering Nessi and Luareth. The field was dead; the blades of grass itself blown away and rotting bodies had replaced them. One of the corpses, disfigured and barely recognizable, had grown. The towers of the city barely reached his knees and his power matched his height.  
  
Luareth felt Nessi shift by her side and heard her mummer, "This is getting nowhere, both of these mages are already dead." Nessi rose from the ground and glided upwards until she could look the aberrance in the eye. A blue mist covered the field and shrouded the two of them.  
  
The people in the castle rose to their feet with curiosity. Out of the dead silence, some of them rejoiced the finally of the battle. Blasts of lightning rocked the people to their knees, bursts of light and sound that threatened to tear Luareth apart. When the mist cleared and Luareth stood up, she noticed the Nightwere standing in front of her, oblivious to the world.  
  
The noise died down and flashes became less frequent as the mist cleared. Ness stood on the ground with a body sprawled in front of her, clasping its head in a death grasp. Nessi motioned it to rise, and it obeyed, as both of them floated back to Luareth. As the body floated nearer, Luareth could pick out tiny details; the black cloak; the thin brown hair, the pointy ears of an elf.  
  
Nessi alighted behind Luareth and spoke softly as the body floated to Luareth's feet; "Do you know him?"  
  
Luareth looked and realized she did, "He's one of the mages in the Haven, an apprentice of the Archmage. He was trained in life, what happened?"  
  
"You," Nessi whispered, "He traded his soul in hopes to gain your abilities. Your existence and your inability, or even your unwillingness, to use it will disrupt the minds and conscience of those around you. He wanted ultimate power, but he couldn't grasp ultimate knowledge. I filled his mind to the brink and then erased it." The Nightwere light heavily and swept his hand over the body. As his hand moved, flakes of flesh and bone sprang from the body and rotted away to nothingness before it hit the ground. Luareth felt tears roll down her cheek.  
  
"Halt, both of you," someone barked from the castle walls. Nessi turned, putting a hand around the shoulders of the Nightwere and saw a brightly- colored uniformed court official coming towards them. Nessi raised a hand and jerked it backwards and laughed as the official fell to the ground, his feet pulled from beneath him. More officials bumbled out of the castle to aid the first and Nessi shouted to the castle, "Stop sending these pawns, I want to talk to the counsel."  
  
A procession of soldiers began at the gates and snaked outwards. When the line had expanded to form a ring around Nessi, Luareth and the Nightwere. Between the rows of soldiers, five new people came out. The first three were obviously mages, each bore a white cloak, and the other two appeared to be royalty of some kind. They walked together, confidant and condescending. The mages' faces tightened as they saw Nessi, who just smiled back, and they look strangely at the boy.  
  
The taller of the two royalty saw Luareth and immediately spoke up, "I'm so glad you're safe, Luareth." He rushed forward and took Luareth by the hand and led her away. Nessi tried to move in front of Luareth but the second royal got in the way, "Nessi, thank you for retrieving the one for us. We'll take care of her, you know, keep her safe and all that. What do we owe you?"  
  
"Money is not my price and power is not yours to give," Nessi fixed her gaze on the royal in front of her, "you have no claim to her." Nessi seized the air in front of her with a tight grip. As Nessi picked up her hand and moved it towards her, Luareth felt a hidden hand wrap around her waist and pick her up. Luareth's legs dangled in the air as the hand lifted her through the air and set her by Nessi again.  
  
Nessi looked again at the royal, "What would you have done if we weren't here? Your white goons couldn't have stopped that."  
  
The royal puffed out his chest; "My wizards are the best in the world. We can handle anything. We just waited, uh, until you asked for help."  
  
"Your wizards are barely tested," Nessi corrected, "Any one of us could destroy your castle out and you know it."  
  
The official bustled with rage, "We called the Seers and the merchants here to protect them. The livelihood of all civilizations are within these walls, therefore we have to have the best."  
  
Dismissive, Nessi turned to Luareth, "The parts are all here now, Luareth. Its time to make your decision."  
  
Luareth tried to look calm about the decision she must make, although she felt the fear seep through her façade as she asked, "What choice must I make?"  
  
"The five most powerful wizards gather here today," Nessi replied shortly as if Luareth should already have known this, "and you get to destroy as many as you like. You've already destroyed two; you harbor the energy of the Archmage and the Embermage."  
  
"The Archmage? I destroyed the Archmage?" Luareth fell to her knees gasping for breath, "The elves, but the other mage, that one that attacked us, you said that he destroyed them."  
  
Nessi whispered harshly, "My child, welcome to the world of power"  
  
Luareth broke away from Nessi. Tears streamed down her face as she stared down Nessi, "I have power now? Why? I didn't ask for it."  
  
"You've had a painless ascent to power, Luareth," Nessi scolded, "You wanted the power to defend yourself, and power itself answered your call. You stole power from the source you knew, the Archmage, and the elves couldn't defend themselves."  
  
"But I have the power now," Luareth replied forcefully, following the advice of a friend, "I can take power away from any one and I choose you. Elah has told me of what you and the Nightwere have done."  
  
"I bet she told you about the Nightwere and her parents," Nessi clarified, "but let me take you back to the Nightwere's first victim and then you might see the truth." Nessi threw her arms to the sky and a purple-blue dome enclosed Nessi and Luareth. The dome expanded but continued to include only Luareth and Nessi alone.  
  
Outside the bubble, the air thickened until light could not pass through. Nessi narrated through the darkness, "This vessel will take us back to the Nightwere's youth. He's thousands of decades old; rather he was born many generations ago but he stayed about the same age. He was once a student of mine and he was young when he sold his soul for the power he got and I gave him that cloak as a right of passage. I revived my own appearance and volition of youth every twenty years but his conscience won't allow him to. He thought that his evil would die with his flesh but evil is stronger than flesh and it doesn't die easily, you saw that in the field just now. Since then, his flesh and, rotted away but he lived through it because of his deathless existence."  
  
The air opened and Luareth could see outside. The plain and the castle were gone, replaced by mountains and a sea. The bubble descended and Luareth saw a group of boys running, playing some type of game. Higher on the hill sat a woman, blue robes and a staff, who looked strikingly like Nessi. Luareth heard Nessi whispering to herself but she turned her attention to the running game.  
  
The boys always ran within a set circle, although the kids seemed to run wherever they wanted. Luareth thought back to similar games of her youth, running and laughing. And she heard it to, the laughter of children, the purest form of glee, but one wasn't. Luareth looked closer at the one. Soon it became clear to her that the other boys were taunting him.  
  
"The boy you're looking at will grow into the Nightwere," Nessi narrated, "and this is where it all started. Watch."  
  
Another of the boys ran by the silent boy, laughing playfully, and a jolt of lightning joined them and the silent boy contorted slightly. The silent boy turned and returned the jolt with a thin black bolt. When the bolt hit, the running boy just fell. As he lay lifeless on the ground, the others stopped laughing and began screaming at the boy, who ducked his head and sauntered away.  
  
"That boy didn't mean to, you know," Nessi narrated, "He was only eleven and he could kill a person without meaning to."  
  
"He deserves to be destroyed then," Luareth countered. This whole thing seemed pointless, "If he could kill at eleven, imagine what he can do in our time."  
  
"You're not thinking it through," Nessi said. Luareth looked at her for a moment before Nessi explained, "What is your fondest memory of the past?"  
  
"I was fifteen at the time," Luareth responded, her eyes glazing over as she slipped into the memory, "and we were rolling down hills and laughing, racing and the air was sweet with spring and . . . " "Who's we?" "My friends, of course."  
  
"What if your friends feared for their life? What if you were a danger to them and they knew it?" Nessi asked. "He grew as old as you first saw him and no one would let him near them. He could have killed thousands, but he chose to wait out the generation to see if the next generation would be better. They weren't."  
  
"But he did kill thousands of people," Luareth objected, "Elah said that you did too."  
  
"You should not believe everything your told. What proof does she have? How can she prove it? I can show you her father and mother relaxing on a beach or in the center of a luxurious palace. I can show you anything I want, make you hear what I want, would you believe that?"  
  
Luareth paused. She suppressed the doubt but it sprouted through every defense. She thought of many ways to respond but the logic and doubt over whelmed them. The bubble closed and the two of them were cut off from the outside world again. Luareth felt more alone than before.  
  
"I'm taking us back," Nessi gave her final thought, "Don't trust your senses or memories, they can change and be changed. When someone tells you something or does something, think about what they gain from saying or doing that. Let that guide your life, not your fickle senses or emotions." Luareth closed her eyes to think and her mind slid away to a restless sleep.  
  
Luareth strolled a forest path of her youth, but the joy was gone. She was queen of this place, she knew it and the very trees uprooted themselves to let her pass. Her joy was replaced by analytical sourness. Birds and animals chattered and she knew it was for her, but somehow it was an annoyance this time. Her vision and senses flowed throughout the forest, and she was a part of the forest. No, the forest was a part of her, she had mastered the forest and it existed to serve her.  
  
A brown dog leapt from the brush and landed by her side. Looking down at it, she smiled the bittersweet pleasure. She used to enjoy chance encounters and two days ago she would have loved this. She knelt and looked into the black eyes of the dog, "I used to love this. Why don't I now?" She thought herself silly immediately. The dog couldn't answer her and she knew that expecting it to know the answer was hopeless.  
  
And yet it did. --Luareth, this is the power you have. You should learn to enjoy it. You can't give it away.-- Luareth was astonished but somehow she had felt that the dog could speak.  
  
"But I used to enjoy this so much more," Luareth complained, "I'm talking to a dog, I'm at one with the nature, and yet I'm not happy."  
  
--The power has changed you,-- the dog replied, --Only you can deal with the power you have gotten. You wanted this--  
  
"I know," Luareth sighed and looked around, "But I'm all alone. My home and everything I know is destroyed."  
  
--You have a choice to make. You are the One--  
  
Luareth closed her eyes. She had made her decision and she would remember this for the rest of her life, even though others would forget. 


	7. Decision

Chapter 7-Redemption  
  
Luareth shook herself awake with a start to find that the field was the same as they had left it, rotting with decaying bodies and scarred from their battle. The field stretched before her and her future behind her. She could take the power of any one she wanted but there was only one thing she wanted, "Nessi, how do I take your powers?"  
  
"Wise choice, Luareth," congratulated Nessi, "I will surrender my powers to you freely."  
  
Elah was surprised, "Luareth, what about the Nightwere? Aren't you going to take his power too?"  
  
"I can't help him," Luareth replied, "I don't think anyone can. He's suffered enough. Elah, you seek not justice, but revenge. You can't take revenge yourself and so you wanted me to, but I won't. I'm sorry."  
  
Tingit looked at Nessi, "How can you give up your powers? Freely even?"  
  
"Power is not everything," Nessi grinned to a secret Joke, "right Luareth?" Luareth nodded silently. Nessi put her hands on Luareth's shoulders. Blue lightning surged through the air, striking the two and the ground around them. The Evernmage grabbed the four kids and quickly flew within the city walls. The blue energy storm peaked, each bolt struck the ground with earthquake force and apocalyptic flashes.  
  
Then it was over. Nessi stood in the field with her hands still on Luareth's shoulders. After a moment, Nessi collapsed to her knees. Luareth looked down at her and then disappeared. Nessi smiled.  
  
Birds twittered in the breezy air, air scented by open flowers and tinted slightly green from the thick tree branches over head. Two elves walked through the flowers, neither knowing of the enchantments that protected them or caring that they were precious to the township barely in shouting distance away.  
  
Christen and Angela talked wistfully as they walked through the freshly harvested grain, aloof to the person following them. Christen, a tall and stately elvish youth, was born into the upper class. His father a wealthy merchant which left him the heir to a fortune. His father was busy and not able to tend to the education needs of his son and Christen knew what was coming to him, so Christen paid little attention to his studies.  
  
His companion, they hoped for life, had always been more important to the village but less wealthy. Angela is the daughter of the Seer, the last in a line of visionaries that guided the civilization. The Seer granted passage through the territory for strangers.  
  
Something was happening now; all of the Seers were called to the capitol now and their families. Angela thought the Seer's work detached her fro her daughter and so Angela didn't know, or care, what her mother did but now the whole family had to move. She had to leave her friends, her village, her house, and most importantly, Christen.  
  
Angela broke the silence; "I don't want to go. The counsel needs the Seers, they can have them but why do they need their families too."  
  
"My father doesn't know what is going on," Christen lamented, "but trade has also diminished. Soon there will be nothing left of the Trading Empire and I don't know what will happen to us then."  
  
"I won't do it," Angela cried to the world, "I won't go with my family." Christen gingerly pressed her head to his shoulder with one hand and held her close. Angela's tear soiled Christen's silk tunic as she wrapped her arms around his waist.  
  
"Christen, I'm so glad I caught up to you."  
  
Christen didn't let go or turn his head, he knew the voice. "Luareth, Father told you to pack our things for the move. What are you doing here?"  
  
"Yes, I did that," Luareth curtseyed slightly, "and then your father told me to bring you back for the feast." Her words were followed by a pause. She was being ignored again, so she crouched low, with her head barely above the leaf crests, and dreamed of a better future.  
  
Plants rustled in the silence and Luareth slowly stood up. Angela and Christen separated but continued to hold hands. A young woman materialized from the field. None of the elves had heard her approach and the stalks around her were high. Her deep sapphire cloak should have stood out among the golden stalks, but no one had seen her coming. A hood shielded her face from view except for her pale mouth. She took one look at Christen and Angela and laughed, "Sorry to interrupt but do you know where the Elvish Haven is?"  
  
"Yes," Angela replied, "we all live there at the moment. Luareth over there will show you the way."  
  
"No," Luareth objected solemnly. She waved her hand and time stopped for all but her and Nessi, the stranger. Both of them knew what was coming, Nessi had foreseen it all along and Luareth knew what she must do, and they both relished it.  
  
"I can't have this power," Luareth started, almost apologetically, "I don't want the same fate as the Nightwere."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I want to get rid of my power, give it to you," Luareth murmured, "I want nothing to have happened. Can you do that?"  
  
"I can."  
  
"You foresaw all of this, didn't you?" Luareth paused for a moment before tears welled up in her mind, "Don't answer, I don't want to know. I don't want to know anything."  
  
"Surrender your power," Nessi commanded. Lightning rebounded on the air, strands of blue, red and green. The transfer took a moment and then Nessi turned to leave. Nessi has not foreseen that awesome power that Luareth had given her and she couldn't believe that Luareth took a carefree life over sheer power.  
  
Before going, she paused and looked back at Luareth sobbing in the grass, "I'm impressed with your caution, young one. Live the long happy life you chose."  
  
The day had passed into night with a clatter of glasses and plates as the feast continued undisturbed. Luareth laughed as she couldn't remember before. None of them saw the figure's approach, they barely felt the heat, and they would never feel anything again.  
  
Nessi saw the red haze and knew that the Haven was gone, this time it had no survivors. She smiled to herself but then the smile melt away quickly. She held her hands in front of her and watched as red, green, and blue strands played between them. "I'm next," Nessi admitted to herself with morbid envy of Luareth.  
  
My email is teslonic@hotmail.com. Please tell me what you think and how I can make it better. 


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